Chapter Three

The warm sun beamed down in the early morning hours. Bustling Londoners hurried passed the girl hurrying, her cardigan flying behind her though she hardly needed it in the morning sun. She was late.

She could hear the loud grumbles of those she pushed through in order to get past, shouting loud apologies at those who would listen and rolling her eyes at the particularly bitter ones who cursed her. She knew herself how rude city folk could be, and sometimes she wished she could stop and shout at them to give them a taste of their own medicine.

She never did.

The jingle of the café bell rang through her ears as she entered, "sorry I'm late!" tumbling from her lips as soon as the door had closed behind her and she hurried towards the hook for her apron. She dumped her bag down, greeting Penny with a quiet 'morning' whilst the blonde-haired girl tried to make sure Charles hadn't heard Romy come in.

"I think you're in the clear," whispered Penny in passing, "he's been talking to Shirley since early this morning, he didn't notice me come in so he might not have noticed you."

Romy couldn't help but sigh in relief, tying her apron tightly at the back and pushing her hair behind her ear. Charles could easily fire her at any given moment, and she couldn't afford that. She didn't have any experience in the muggle world to get a better job than the coffee shop - she knew she could go far with her magic abilities, but she just wasn't ready to dive back into that part of her life.

"Your admirer is back," Penny said with a wink. Her voice was quiet, but Romy managed to make out what she said, though it didn't help her confusion. Though, when Penny nudged her head subtlety to the back-corner seat next to the window, Romy almost did a double take.

Remus was back.

He was hardly her admirer, but she couldn't deny that it was rather surprising to see him again. What confused her, though, was Penny even noticing him.

"He stayed here all day yesterday," said Penny, as though she read her mind, "and only came to order coffee when you were serving. He hasn't ordered yet, by the way."

"That means nothing, Penny," Romy scoffed, doing her usual and fixing a pot of coffee, "not everything in life has a hidden meaning. Maybe he just prefers my incredible customer service skills to yours."

"That's impossible!" Penny exclaimed, flipping Romy off when the girl snorted. Romy watched the girl grab the broomstick from the other end of the room to sweep the floor before the businessmen came by for their morning coffees.

The café wasn't overly popular, it was situated in the heart of London but it only got busy sometimes. The busiest time was always the morning but after that, they were lucky to get more than ten people in at a time. Romy didn't mind that, though it was nice to take it easy during the day, sometimes she longed for something more exciting, something that didn't seem boring after a few hours.

She could clean every mug and cup and plate that they had and make as many pots of coffee as she wished but it would never fulfil the dreams she had since she was eleven. Since school, and her favourite class and the true career she wished to pursue.

She wondered what would happen to her friendship with Penny if she were to leave the café if she were to jump back into the wizarding world and rekindle old friendships and started the journey to becoming what she always wished to be. The thought was scary, and she hadn't truly realised that she had no one to confide in for such thoughts, but there was no use to think of that right now.

She had a stable job - well, stable enough - and she did love her flat, but a part of her would always long for a little bit more. She was scared, but after the war, she tried not to think of fear. She would rather ignore it than embrace it.

"Romy, customer!" Penny called, alerting Romy to turn around. She couldn't prepare herself for the sight of him, back again and this time he was smiling. It was big, actually, it seemed more forced than anything - something Romy noticed because she had forced many smiles herself.

"Good morning," she said, tucking stray hairs behind her ears and hurrying over to the counter, "what can I get you?"

"I will tip you five pounds if you can guess," said Remus, seeming much brighter than he was the previous day.

Romy laughed, "Black coffee it is. Now pay up."

Remus dug into the back pocket of the jeans he wore, pulling out a few notes and dumping a five-pound note into the jar that said 'Romy's tips' on the front. She and Penny decided to get tip jars of their own rather than share them after the fifth argument of them splitting tips.

Penny was sure she was getting more tips than Romy was and didn't think it was at all fair that she had to split her tips with her, but Romy knew that was complete bullshit. In order to make the girl happy she decided to prove to her that she made the same - sometimes, even more - tips by getting another jar.

"Well done," said Romy, "you got the jar right."

"Well it wasn't very hard," said Remus, watching the girl as she grabbed a cup from underneath the counter, "I've heard your name in hear multiple times."

"Makes sense, it was also a fifty percent chance you'd get it anyway," Romy joked, earning a quiet laugh from the boy.

"I also remembered it...from uh, well, school." Romy stopped what she was doing, sitting the cup on the counter and straightening her self up. He remembered her. She didn't know how that was possible, he was a somebody back in their high school days - but she was not.

"I didn't think you remembered me," Romy said, "if I'm being honest."

"Does that mean you remember me?"

Romy couldn't help but scoff, "are you kidding, Remus? Don't be so humble you were one of the most popular boys in our year."

She couldn't believe her eyes when his cheeks dusted red, and she finally poured his coffee, muttering a small 'here you go' and taking his money from him, "it was good to see you."

He nodded, that smile back on his lips, "yeah, you too, Romy."

-

"I'll see you tomorrow, Penny!" Romy called, untying her apron, "bye Shirley!"

"Bye, sweetie. Don't you be going wandering, go straight home!" Shirley called, a warning tone in her voice and Romy laughed. Shirley was an older woman, and she treated Romy much like her own daughter, making sure she was safe as much as she could.

"I'll be careful, Shirley. It's still light out!" Romy said, hanging up her apron and grabbing her bag. She bid them a goodbye one last time, opening the door and hurrying into the streets of London that had calmed down from the early morning.

"You work a long shift." Romy couldn't help but jump at the unsuspecting voice, turning around to be greeted by the sight of Remus. He was leaning against the building, a cigarette between two fingers and a cloud of horrid smoke around him.

"Have you been waiting for me to get off work?" asked Romy, "that's a bit stalkerish, Remus. I won't lie."

"I left and came back!" Remus said defensively, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"I didn't know you smoked." Romy leaned against the wall just next to him, rummaging through her bag to get her cardigan. The air always got colder at night and she was starting to feel the chill on her bare arms.

"I don't...well, I never did," Remus frowned, "I could stop any time."

"Uh huh," Romy trailed off, "I've heard that one a million times before - wait, why are you here?"

"I wanted to talk to you." He merely shrugged, "if you'll let me."

"Alright, you can walk me home then," Romy said, gesturing for him to follow her, "talk away."

"I didn't mean to seem stalkerish," he started, dropping the cigarette bud and stepping on it. He shoved his hands into the pockets of the black jeans he was wearing. The style he had on reminded Romy more of his old friend Sirius black rather than it did of him, "I stumbled upon the café accidentally - then I saw you inside but that's not the point, I just...I haven't really seen anyone from school in a long time and well, I know we weren't close at all but it's not like you were unknown."

"Are you kidding?" He was almost going to speak again before Romy spoke up, "I was practically a nobody."

"That's not true, Romy, everyone knew you. You were friendly to everyone you saw," Remus nudged her arm lightly, "you were the embodiment of a Hufflepuff and you can't deny it."

"Alright," Romy chuckled, "keep going."

"Well, I'm not exactly sure why I'm telling you this, Romy, but when I saw you I wanted to talk to you. It's not for any weird reason, believe me, but I've been surrounded by muggles for almost a year. It's good to be away from the wizarding world but to see a familiar face in the heart of muggle London, I just wanted to talk to you." She was more than surprised to hear what he had to say.

He was doing what she was...distancing himself from the wizarding world.

"It was good to see a familiar face, Remus." Romy smiled. They were just outside her building, and Remus realised when she leaned against the door, "After the...well, after the war, it's hard to live normally again. So much changed, I feel lost. I don't know why I'm telling you this either but part of me feels like you're the only one who could possibly understand what I'm feeling."

"Believe me," Remus said, "I know exactly what it's like to feel lost."

Romy sighed, "it really was good to see you."

She rummaged through her bag for her keys, "you should stop by the café sometime soon," she soon said when she finally grabbed her keys at the very bottom of her bag, "I'll get you a black coffee on the house."

Remus laughed, shoving his hands back in the back pockets of his black jeans, "I'll hold you to that. See you later, Romy."

"See you," Romy whispered, waving as he walked down the street and finally entering her apartment when he turned the corner, looking back once to see if she was still there. She closed the door behind her, it was the building door and all residents had a key for the front door as well as their own for an extra layer of security.

She wasn't quite sure why she said what she did, why she offered him a coffee. Part of her wanted to see him again for the sole fact that he was like her and she related to him. He was a gateway to memories she had once suppressed begging to come through and she was slowly allowing herself to let them through.

But part of her wondered if he would really take her up on that offer, that maybe just seeing him and him talking to her was a one-time thing and maybe Remus Lupin wouldn't go to the cafe.

Time would tell, she knew that. Her routine seemed a little hazy as she fell onto her couch and pulled her blanket over her. She had to remember her routine was a good thing, she needed her routine to keep herself going - it would be beneficial in the long run.

She thinks.

She wasn't entirely sure anymore.